Footsteps
by New-Ways-To-Dream
Summary: 'How! How do you know you won't leave me, too..' He asked, tears threatening to fall. The other man looked him in the eye, those grey eyes piercing him. 'You're worth living for, Albus.'
1. Happenings

A/N: Hey, this is my first FanFiction on this site! I love HP, and it's always been one of my goals to actually write a FF for this fandom, and now I'm doing it! If I have grammar problems, spelling mistakes, feel free to leave a review on here telling me! Constructive critism always welcomed! Leave reviews and just enjoy the writing! (HOPEFULLY)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling, the fabulous creator of Harry Potter, does! I only own my OC's which for now would be Sun and the nurses in this story. Enjoy!

The day was dark, almost black, which was quite usual for a place like Hogwarts. Although the eeriness was not, Teddy Lupin thought as he walked down the hallway to his office. Teddy was the Potions master in Hogwarts ever since he was offered the job when he graduated Hogwarts. It was good fun, and nice to be able to stick around with his family more until they graduated. At first he was skeptical about it, I mean, who'd want to be a teacher? Aren't they boring? Alas, poor Teddy, could not turn down the offer. After all, it was only for a week unless you decided you wanted to keep the job. Well, teaching isn;t as boring as he thought it would be. He found a new-born passion for teaching students how to create Polyjuice Potions(Only on Fridays, Fridays are his 'Secret Lesson' days!), Gargling Warfburner, and more. The only real problem was his God-brother...James Sirius Potter. That boy, whom he loved dearly, got himself into all kinds of trouble in that class! So many detentions, I'm pretty sure he's broken his grandfathers record of detentions. And his fathers. It was only his second year for Merlins sake!

_Put together,_ he added to himself silently with a smirk_._ Although he was quite troublesome, he was his best mate. He could confide everything in him, and trust him not telling anyone. James Sirius may be a prankster, but he is a trustworthy companion. He arrives to his office and fumbles around for his keys, taking them out of his back pocket and opening the door to the open space. Setting the papaers on a desk, he looks favorably at a picture of him and James grinning at the camera, just a normal polaroid picture. He's always enjoyed still moments more then moving ones for some reason, he still does. He sits down at his desk and begins the _other _bad thing about his job. Grading. He simply loathed giving nice kids a bad grade, they were, as he said, nice kids. e would have to personally chat with them, maybe pull some strings. He knows some of them have more potential than this. Teddy sighs, then again looks at the still muggle picture, then smiles.

''They'll learn in no time once I tutor them.'' About 2 hours later and his grading his done, he starts putting papers and pencils into his bag, that was until someone ran in.

''P-Professor!'' A young girl panted, hands on her knees, a Ravenclaw. Teddy stood up, quickly coming to her aid. ''What is it, Sun?'' She panted and looked up, obvious distress in her eyes. ''I-it's James! He went beserk!'' He rose his eyebrows and sat her down on the couch. ''Beserk? What do you mean?'' She burst out into tears, holding her face. ''Mad as a hatter! Insane! All he did was laugh and break things a-and jump around! He almost killed himself!'' Teddys eyes widened at what Sun just said, and whispered quietly. ''H-how..?'' She sniffed, then shook sadly as she cried. ''H-he tried cursing himself! We don't know if it was an accident or-or not!'' For a moment, he could not bear to breathe, could not bear to even talk, the only thing that ran through his mind was James..._James..._He brought himself out of his thoughts and looked at Sun again, who was still crying. ''Where is he now?'' She choked out 2 words. ''H-hospital W-wing!''

He wasted no time in getting there.

Teddy Lupin ran as fast as he could, leaving Sun on the couch to nap for a while, she said that many tried to stop him and James just went on and on about random things...this was scaring him. As soon as he arrived to the Hospital Wing, he saw one of the nurses there going to the closet. He quickly ran to her, panting. ''J-James...Potter..?'' She looked at him, her face pale and grim. ''Professor Lupin. James is in a very unstable state, he can;t have any visi-'' He interrupted, angry. ''I'm asking you what is wrong with him, now please, tell me!'' Her face, covered in wrinkles and crows feet, fell slightly. ''I'm afraid...I'm afraid that ...well..'' He grew more impatient by the second. ''Well, what?'' The nurse took out an item from the closet and looked at him, serious. ''James Potter has, literally, lost his mind. He's insane, mad. Gone. He and his mind are gone. No one knows what happened, all we know is that he needs strict supervision and a place at immediatly.'' Teddy could not bear this anymore and tears, tears of grief and sadness and sorrow, tears that came in waterfalls as they flowed down his pale cheeks. Tears that wouldn't fade easily, tears that mourned...It couldn't be, it just couldn't. James, the bou who always grinned and pranked everyone, the boy who had an easy time making friends, making people smile...

That boy was gone...? Just like this? Without any warning? No reason? Out of thin air it happened...He then lowered his eyes on the item the nurse was holding, and he just couldn't bear it anymore. She was holding a straight-jacket.

Straight-jackets are used for crazy people. James isn't crazy...

''B-but..'' He croaked out, wiping his eyes sloppily with the cuff of his sleeve. ''W-why...?'' That was all he asked before he looked down ruefully, tears threatening to fall once more, and he welcomed them. The salty water had traveled from the corner of his eyes, to the bridge of his nose, the tip, then dripped onto the floor to create a small, almost unnoticable puddle of sadness and remorse. The nurse, putting a hand on his shoulder, replied sadly and unsure. ''We're not sure. He was just brought in here, we had to sedate him. We shall get him to and they will decide what the cause of this is.'' Teddy nodded slowly, then stood up, trying to hide his face. ''...c-can you...fix him..?" The nurse stood silent, after a few minutes, she spoke up. ''I don't know.'' He let out a shaky sigh and held a hand over his mouth while nodding. ''T-thank you. V-very well then. Wh-when can I see him?''

She walked over to a cabinet and with a swish of her wand, it opened and out came a small pocket watch. It was silver and no more the size of one of his cuff links, the chain was a stunning silver as well, and the watch had a little glow radiating from it. There were no numbers or ticks, just the hands of the watch. Minute, hour, and second. She took it from it's peacefl levitation in the air and walked over to him and gently put the wach in his hand. ''This will tell you when you can visit, or when he needs you. All you have to do is whisper his full name, and whenever he needs you or you need him, it will tell you when it's time.'' He took the chain and looked at her, grateful. ''Thank you so much...'' He then put it around his neck, it now serving as a necklace around his masculine neck.

She nodded curtly with a small smile, her wrinkles more defined with each movement or twitch in her face. ''Yes, now go on son, go home.'' He nodded, then suddenly remember. ''Sun...I've got to go anyways, thank you for your time and...please, be careful with him...he's important to me...'' Understanding, she nodded and went to do her work, and Teddy left to go get Sun. To his suprise, she had left. Leaving him a note saying she went back to the Ravenclaw Dorm to sleep, thanking him for his help. Now he needed to send Harry and Ginny a letter...

This is most disheartening.

Having to tell someones parents that their son is insane is easier said that done, and saying it is pretty hard. He can't really just go up to them and go, '_Hey, guess what? You're son has lost his mind and is trying to kill himself.' _Teddy thought bitterly to himself, and yet with a sigh and a snap of a rubberband on his wrist that's used to keep him up at night if he was working late, he began to write the letter.

_To whom it may concern,_

_Harry, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come to Hogwarts immediatly. Something has gone wrong with James and we're not sure why, but he really needs you right now. Please come as soon as you can and if you have the time, please be sure to tell Lily and Albus to keep their voices down and shut when they talk to James. Trust me on this and I'll explain everything when you get here. Send Ginny my love._

_ -Teddy Lupin_

He hoped that Harry would get the letter soon as he walked up to his owl, Artie. He tied it gently onto his talon, then whispered the address to him and sent him flying into the sky toward the Potter household. That night, that horrid, dreaful night, he could not sleep. All he could think about was James, young James...so very young, only his second year, and it has to be cut short due to an incident no one knows about. It really isn't fair, especially to him! He's barely 14 and this happens..it's just..

_Not fair._

He holds his face for a few silent, painful minutes before standing, going to his own dormitory and changing, crawling into his bed and sleeping.

He couldn't sleep that night.

Awaking with a peaceful yawn, Harry Potter sits up and rubs his face. He picks up his glasses from the nightstand and stands up, stretching with yet another yawn. Seeing that Ginny had already gone downstairs, to make breakfast probably, he changes and fixes his hair, lightly touching his scar. He remembers the pain this scar had brought him, he remembers how he and Voldermort were connected through this scar...None of that had mattered now. Smiling to himself, he also remembers another fact. The scar had not pained him for 21 years. It had not shown any signs of doing so, either. He walks downstairs, after brushing his teeth of course, and sees his wife, Ginny, reading a letter. Silent.

''Gin? Is that from Ted?'' She nods slowly. Usually he would have been excited, but something in Ginnys posture said it wasn't good news. He kneels next to her. ''What's it say, Ginny?'' She looks at him. ''It's about James. Something is wrong, Harry.'' She stated, looking at him, a small panic rising within her. ''We need to get there right away, Ted says! Harry..?'' He stood silent, then stood up. ''Get the children, I'll get the car.'' With a nod, she goes to her daughters room, gently waking the small red-headed girl. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and sits up.

''Mum..I'm tired..'' Ginny picks her up and heads to Albus' room, knocking. Fortunately, he was already up and in the process of brushing his teeth. ''Albus, get ready quickly, we need to go to !'' He looked at her, saw the seriousness in her face, then sped through quickly. Albus grabbed his glasses and followed Ginny to the car, helping put Lily in her seat with the seatbelt and climbing in next to her, buckling himself in. Ginny got in the passenger seat and slammed the door, not bothering with the seatbelt. ''GO!'' Harry jumped and started the car, making sure that no one was around, he drove off onto a Dead End road.

''Mom? Dad? Where are we going?'' Albus asked from the back of the seat, confused as the car lifted from the ground. They gave no reply, seeming to not hear him, lost in their own thoughts while Harry concentrated on the way to . He made a turn on where the path should be...

And off to they went.

Ted waited in the lobby of for what seemed like hours. He had a substitute for him while he was here, the Headmaster understood that this was important, and for that he was thankful. He tried to distract himself, staring at the watch the nurse had gave him. The silver outlining was beautiful, even in it's size. It was laced with gold on the outside of the watch in small patterns, and he saw something that intrigued him. On the back of the watch, there was his own name in gold letters. He stared, slightly amused at how it got on there, but was broke of his chance when he felt a tap on his head.

''Sir?'' A quiet, timid voice asked. Ted looked up at the young woman. Her short dark brown hair shined lightly in the light, her gentle blue eyes showing her youth brightly. She must have been new, he thought. He wasn't that old himself, only about 20. He graduated 2 years ago from Hogwarts.

''Yes..?'' Came his reply, it came out croaky. His throat had become quite sore, he needed some water. She half smiled, holding a clipboard close to her chest. ''We'd just like to inform that James Potters' parents are in the other lobby, if you'd like to see them...'' He nodded his thanks and stood up, taking a deep breath and walking to the other lobby where they'd be awaiting.

''Ted!'' Ginny was the first to speak, walking to him with a pale look on her face. Along with Ginny, the color also drained from his face. ''G-Ginny...'' He bit his lip, almost afraid to tell them what had become of James. Yes, he visited the poor boy. It was..it was as if he had completely forgotten who he was, or just didn't care, and started screaming incoherent things! He was not James, he was an entirely different person. His eyes, the once beatiful and mesmerising hazel that always had a spark of life and mischeif, now bloodshot with crazy as it's only spark in the dark pools which were supposed to be his..but not anymore, no more would he have those beautiful, glorious eyes. The doctors hadn't found the source, they hadn't found a way to fix this. They were afraid, so they said, that he was never going to be the same...

The best they could do was medication for the time being, but it would only calm him, make him tired. Not himself again. He had been broken in more ways than possible, and the answer to why was _impossible_ to get. Sun said he was found like that in class, he just ran in and started ging crazy with his wand. Turning people into frogs, mice, rabbits, even teacups. Although that's impressive in that state, it was still mahem. He even tried to curse himself with an unforgivable curse, if it wasn't for Lysander. Lysander expelliarmed him and tackled him to the ground, another thing unusual. Lysander tackling someone. At least it was for his own good.

After explaining all that happened to Harry and Ginny, (Albus was with Lily in another lobby, Albus watching Lily talk to another young girl her age) they were as silent as statues in a cemetary.

''...I need to see him.'' Harry spoke up first, through gritted teeth. Ginny, just as she thought her face couldn't get whiter. Nodding, Teddy turned and led them to the doctor. ''They would like to see them, sir.'' Looking at the two stricken parents, he moved away from the door. ''Take caution, slow movements and talk slowly in a soft voice.'' Harry, holding his breath, nodded curtly while Ginny stayed silent. The doctor unlocked several heavy locks on the door, and with a flick of his wand the door opened slowly and silently.

''Be very slow...'' Ted repeated for the doctor as the nervous parents walked through the door. ''Very slow.''

A/N: End of chapter one! Look out for chapter two!


	2. James?

A/N: Here I am with another chapter! I promise this one will be more interesting to you readers! Please review, it'll mean a lot to me to know what you think of my story and to know on what I should work on more in the future.

The three worried wizards entered the small room quietly, faces losing color quickly. As soon as Ginny saw James, her knees started to buckle. James was lying down on a bed, staring at the ceiling. That wasn't unusual, back in their house in London. James would have often enclosed himself in his room, turning on music to stare at the ceiling to get himself thinking of ideas of how to prank the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

James hated that teacher with a burning passion.

He's always complain on how she would give him bad grades on assignments, bad looks, he's even accused her of hexing his food to make his hair turn different colors once! Although slightly amused, Harry and Ginny had to have 'common sense' and denied this, saying that it was just his disliking for the teacher that made him think so. They never could figure out why he disliked her, when they asked, James only said one thing.

'She gives me the heeby-jeebys.'

But this...this wasn't the type of staring James would do. This staring was completely different, this staring was like he was searching for something, as if it was in the ceiling itself. Harry flinched slightly as James suddenly shot his hand up, reaching for something that just wasn't there. He began to whimper softly, slowly realizing that there was nothing for him there. To him, it was the most horrifying thing at the moment. He began to scoot away until he was against the headboard of the bed, cradling his head and rocking softly.

Unfortunately, Ginnys motherly instincts got in the way of her better judgment.

''Oh James...'' She started walking towards him quickly, opening her arms to hug him close to her aching bosom in an attempt to make him feel better. Teddy reached for her arm, but before he could even touch her, it all started going wrong.

''W-what? N-no! Get away! GET AWAY!'' James started to panic, not knowing who Ginny is. Harry grabbed Ginny and quickly pulled her back.

''Gin! No!'' It was too late, the lights started flickering dangerously as James panicked and cried, trying to scoot back more as walls started closing in ob him, with figures of people laughing at him while he cried out. Shadows on the walls, twisting and turning into horrible and terrifying images, color fading as his eyes widened more. He screamed and thrashed against the bed as he hallucinated, Ginnys cries joining his as she watches her baby suffer.

Harry had to take her out of the room, Teddy followed closely behind as the doctor rushed in, closing the door behind him in a vain attempt to stop the sound of screaming to reach their ears.

Too bad that didn't stop it.

Ginny cried into Harrys chest, her heart was breaking for James. Her poor baby James...She was supposed to be in there right now, holding him close to her, letting him cry into her chest...

This was just not fair.

Teddy silently agreed on the inside to the said statement above. It really wasn't fair. And the thing that sucked the most as of right now is knowing that there is no valid reason for his ailment. No lead, no clues, no witnesses, nothing. It was as if it came out of the bloom, as if something drove him mad. Of course something drove him mad! What else could it be? Someone driving him mad?

...

'That has to be it...' Teddy thought with a grave face. But who would do this to James Potter II? Everyone loved James, he's a good bloke, he even helps out with community services! Maybe a futile attempt for someone who holds a grudge against Harry Potter and chose to hit him where it hurts most? Teddy Lupin did not know at this moment, but he knew that he had to find out.

He would not let this go.

Albus sat there calmly, watching his little sister play with another little boy here.

'What's with all the worrying?' He thought. 'James always gets into trouble and ends up here all the time!' His brows furrowed as he pushed his glasses up more on the bridge of his nose. Maybe, he thought, it's more serious this time? It's quite hard to believe since James was usually never _serious._ Which was what he found most ironic, since his middle names WAS 'Sirius'. Laughing quietly at his own joke, Lily popped her head from under the table, giggling.

''Al! Al! Play with me!'' The small red-head pleaded, crawling over to him and putting on the best kicked puppy look she could; Teddy had taught her well.

''Er...alright, alright! I'll play with you!'' Smiling in spite, he was slightly annoyed. It had been almost an hour and his parents and brothers were no where to be seen. It was a little worrying, usually he could hear his mother yelling at James, telling him that he's just like his uncles, and then ground him royally.

No yelling was heard, and this was the thing that frightened Albus as he played with his younger sister. He ruffled her hair as she squeaked in protest, fixing it as she glared at him. She did not like her hair being messed with. Albus laughed and kissed her forehead. She pouted and crossed her arms.

''Where is mommy and daddy?'' She asked, becoming impatient.

''I don't know, with Teddy?'' He said with a shrug. Lily scoffed and uncrossed her arms. ''I know _that_!'' She sniffed and paced around.

Albus opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a distraught Ginny.

''Oh! It's not fair, Harry! That's our baby!'' She moaned, gripping onto Harrys shirt tightly, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Harry winced and nodded sadly.

''I know...I..'' He bit his lip. ''I don't know how this happened!'' Ginny let out another painful wail and held her face, letting go of Harry.

Albus looked at them wryly, then stood up slowly. ''Mum? Dad? Ted?'' Teddy looked away, too lost in his own thoughts to say anything. Ginny's eyes were red and puffy, filled with tears and despair. Harry was doing his best to not cry, rubbing Ginny's back comfortingly.

Albus was feeling more and more uneasy.

What had happened to James?

After going back home and after a long explanation from the Potter parents, Albus remained silent.

Then, through gritted teeth, he began to ask a question.

''Who did this to him?''

Teddy sighed. ''We told you, we don't know Albus.'' He frowned deeply and got up from the table they had been chatting at, Lily in her room, and headed toward his own room.

Harry had forced Ginny to take a nap, and now it was only he and Teddy that were left in the room. Teddy spoke almost reluctantly.

''I'll ask the Headmaster if he'll let James still come to school if his condition gets better...'' He stated, turning to his God-Father. ''He'd stay with me, separated from everyone else except family members or friends.'' Harry stood silent for a moment. ''...sounds..reasonable.''

Teddy nodded in agreement and sat at the table while Harry went to the fridge.

''I need a drink.'' He said while getting the firewhiskey out.

''I second that motion.''


End file.
